June 16th, 2021

Okra is officially in season! Remember when we said that okra produces flowers similar to its family member hibiscus? Check out the beautiful okra blossom above! Each blossom produces a single okra pod. Okra is a quick grower, taking only 3-4 days from the emergence of the bloom until the pods reach harvesting size. In addition to being a quick and prolific producer, okra typically seems unfazed by our hot summers. We should be harvesting okra throughout the rest of the summer season so we hope you have your favorite okra recipes ready!

We transplanted more successions of peppers, eggplant, squash, and cucumbers over the last week in preparation for summer harvesting. Staggering multiple plantings of the same crop (called succession planting or successionalization) helps to lengthen our harvest window and maintain more of a steady supply of produce throughout the season. Succession planting also helps in the event of any weather or pest related problems we might incur, like a nearly month-long rain event!

Purslane, the first of our summer greens, was transplanted this week. Purslane, not to be confused with the herb parsley, is a succulent in the Portulacaceae family with edible leaves, stems, and flowers. The leaves have a slightly tart taste and can be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach. Purslane is one of three summer greens we’re experimenting with this season in an effort to provide leafy green options as the temperatures rise. Since purslane readily self-sows, we’re hoping that it will begin to crowd out the weed seeds and lessen the amount of weeding we have to do over time.

May 20th, 2021

All of our tomatoes are coming into season and we’re now harvesting cherry, slicing, and paste varieties. Cherries are perfect for salads and snacking, slicers are great on sandwiches or burgers, and pastes are ideal for making sauces and tomato paste. If you’ve been wanting to jar some sauce, now's the time to take advantage and come see us at the farm stand on Saturday! If you can’t make it on Saturday, we’ll be adding farm stand hours every Wednesday afternoon from 4-6pm beginning this Wednesday, May 26th. We have an abundance of tomatoes that will be available in addition to summer squashes, cucumbers, green beans, and basil. 

We were pleasantly surprised to see our Ouachita blackberries in the orchard covered with ripe fruit this week! We’re happy to report that these berries are large and sweet and only just starting to ripen (which means they’ll be in season for a few weeks). Ouachita is a thornless blackberry that makes harvesting a breeze. We’ll have these delicious berries at the farm stand this Saturday in limited quantities so we highly recommend stopping by to snag some.

While cool season greens like chard are making their way out of season, summer greens are being planted in the high tunnel. We’re planting a mix of heat-loving purslane, amaranth, and tetragonia (also called New Zealand spinach). Purslane has succulent leaves with a slight lemony taste. Amaranth leaves have a taste similar to spinach and depending on the variety can be green, burgundy, or a combination of the two like you see in the photo below. Tetragonia also has succulent leaves but with a mild spinach taste. 

If you’re out and about this weekend and what to support restaurants and Chefs using our beautiful produce, check out the following: Theodore Rex, Better Luck Tomorrow, Nancy’s Hustle, Bludorn, Squable, Ostia, UB Preserv, 93 ‘Til, Hidden Omakase, and Tobiuo Sushi.